Korean Job Discussion Forums

[khyber]

This computer (here at work) will randomly..uhm..."terminate".
The fan continues to go, but the screan blacks and the computer restarts...

Does anyone have even an VAGUE idea of what it could POSSIBLY be?

[superdave]

all problems are solved via the method of elimination:

the fan continues to run because something sets the computer to restart itself ... if the computer doesn't go through the shut down sequence, and just blacks out, then there's a serious error.

try and find a pattern. perhaps every time you open IE or save a word document. it may be a particular program triggering the restart due to some fatal error.

if it's completely random (or appears to be random) then the error is likely a system error and would require fixing.

there's 2 things you can do. if you have the windows CD put it in and one of the options is to repair windows. it will reinstall core files and that may fix your problem.

if that doesn't work, you'd probably need to reinstall windows completely. i'd advise taking essential files off the computer and formatting it before reinstalling.

if that doesn't work, then your problem is most likely hardware. although the fan is running, check the heat. computers do shut down if they over heat, but they usually don't restart themselves. also see how dirty the fan is and how dirty it is inside the computer. there's an abnormal amount of dust in korea and a lot of it will get into computers.

that's probably the best advice i can give, considering the lack of detail in your query.

[bellum99]

I had that happen when my drive had errors and before when my memory was bad. How old is the computer?

[Bulsajo]

Overheating?
Power supply going?
Motherboard shorting (possibly even due to dust)?
It's the cold and dry time of the year...

[Giant]

Yes, I agree this is the time for static related problems. If the computer has not had any major performance degredation recently then its probably a bad component.

But as was said, its a process of elimination. You should most likely look at re-installing from scratch, dont do a repair, that usually never works and still leaves your system cluttered.

If that does not do the trick then look at replacing the RAM, then perhaps CPU and Mainboard. Try the RAM first.

Also, open the cover and just re-seat the cards, RAM and CPU. You also get what is known as chip creep, thats when the components 'creep' out from their sockets due to constant hot and cold temps.

Cheers
Giant